Why this productivity expert doesn't have a daily routine

I'll admit it: I'm a little bit obsessed with learning how
successful people spend their
days and
nights. Who wakes up at 5 a.m. to meditate? Who brunches and
brainstorms at their neighborhood diner every Sunday?

It's not just the activities
that intrigue me — it's also the fact that every one seems to
have some sort of daily routine. For years, I assumed that this
self-discipline, this ability to adhere so closely to a personal
schedule, must be the secret to success.

"I have a few things that I
usually do," she says, including physical exercise and
journaling. "But not at the same time every day."

As Vanderkam explains, that's
largely because she's got several young kids at home, and it's
generally easier to control your schedule once your children are
a little more mature and independent.

At the moment, the only
relatively consistent parts of her schedule are starting work at
8 a.m. and breaking for lunch with her family at noon — and even
those rituals don't happen every day.

None of this is particularly
concerning to her. "I still have the life that I want to live,"
she says.

To be sure, Vanderkam
recognizes the benefits of having a daily routine. Namely, it can
help reduce stress by turning certain healthful behaviors into
automatic habits.

"When something becomes a
habit, it no longer requires making a decision," she says. That
means mental energy and willpower are reserved for more important
things, like listening when you're having a conversation with
your partner.

At the same time, there's a
potential danger in trying to create a daily routine. It's what
Vanderkam calls the "24-hour
trap," or the notion that
if you can't make something happen every day, there's no point in
trying.

"People get so hung up on the
idea of daily rituals that they just don't do it at all," she
says.

Instead, Vanderkam advises
people to find times that realistically work for them. For
example, instead of trying to get up at 5 a.m.every dayto run, see if you can go for a runonce a weekat 5 a.m., once a week on your lunch break,
and once every weekend.

Ultimately, it's important to
understand your own productivity style and the limitations of
your personal lifestyle.

As simple as it sounds,
Vanderkam says, "You need to find a system that works for
you."